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Malachi 3:1
“ I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.
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John 1:33
And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me,‘ The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’
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John 3:28
You yourselves can testify that I said,‘ I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’
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Acts 13:24
Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel.
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Isaiah 40:3-5
A voice of one calling:“ In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
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Luke 1:61-63
They said to her,“ There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child.He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote,“ His name is John.”
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Luke 1:13
But the angel said to him:“ Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.
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Matthew 11:10
This is the one about whom it is written:“‘ I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’
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Luke 1:76
And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
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Malachi 4:5-6
“ See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”
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Matthew 3:1-11
In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judeaand saying,“ Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:“ A voice of one calling in the wilderness,‘ Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan.Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them:“ You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.And do not think you can say to yourselves,‘ We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.“ I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
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Matthew 21:25
John’s baptism— where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?” They discussed it among themselves and said,“ If we say,‘ From heaven,’ he will ask,‘ Then why didn’t you believe him?’
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Luke 3:2-20
during the high- priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:“ A voice of one calling in the wilderness,‘ Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth.And all people will see God’s salvation.’”John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him,“ You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves,‘ We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”“ What should we do then?” the crowd asked.John answered,“ Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”Even tax collectors came to be baptized.“ Teacher,” they asked,“ what should we do?”“ Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.Then some soldiers asked him,“ And what should we do?” He replied,“ Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely— be content with your pay.”The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah.John answered them all,“ I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of his marriage to Herodias, his brother’s wife, and all the other evil things he had done,Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.
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Mark 1:1-8
The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God,as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:“ I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way”—“ a voice of one calling in the wilderness,‘ Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.And this was his message:“ After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
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Luke 1:15-17
for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born.He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God.And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous— to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”